CVE-2011-1318
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedMemory leak in org.apache.jasper.runtime.JspWriterImpl.response in the JavaServer Pages (JSP) component in IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS) before 7.0.0.15 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) by accessing a JSP page of an application that is repeatedly stopped and restarted.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceMemory leak in the JspWriterImpl class within IBM WebSphere Application Server's JSP implementation allows remote attackers to cause denial of service by repeatedly accessing JSP pages during application restart cycles, leading to uncontrolled memory consumption.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 7.0.0.13= 2.0= 3.0= 3.0.2= 3.0.2.1= 3.0.2.2= 3.0.2.3= 3.0.2.4= 3.0.21= 3.5= 3.5.1= 3.5.2CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed WebSphere Application Server versionRun the versionInfo command from the bin directory: ./versionInfo.sh (Unix) or versionInfo.bat (Windows). Look for the 'Version' field in the output.Affected if The installed version is 7.0.0.13 or earlier, or one of these versions: 2.0, 3.0, 3.0.2, 3.0.2.1, 3.0.2.2, 3.0.2.3, 3.0.2.4, 3.0.21, 3.5, 3.5.1, 3.5.2
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Confirm JSP feature is enabledCheck the application server's web container configuration. In the admin console, go to Servers > Server Types > WebSphere application servers > [server] > Web container settings > Web container. JSP functionality is built into the WebSphere runtime and enabled by default when JSP files are deployed.Affected if JSP pages are being served by the application server (JSP is active in the WebSphere runtime)
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Monitor memory usage during application restartsObserve JVM heap memory before, during, and after application restart cycles. Use the admin console (Runtime > Threads and Heap dumps) or external monitoring tools. Trigger several application restarts while monitoring the heap.Affected if Heap memory grows progressively with each application restart cycle and does not return to baseline after garbage collection
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Check for JspWriterImpl class in heap dumpsDuring a period of elevated memory, generate a heap dump (using wsadmin dumpHeap or admin console) and search for instances of com.ibm.ws.jsp.runtime.JspWriterImpl. Compare instance counts before and after restart cycles.Affected if The number of JspWriterImpl instances increases significantly after each application restart and is not released
You are affected if you run any of the listed vulnerable WebSphere versions AND serve JSP pages AND observe uncontrolled memory growth during application restart cycles.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade IBM WebSphere Application Server to version 7.0.0.15 or later which contains the fix for this JSP memory leak vulnerability.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-1318 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-1318 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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